Did the dead bodyguard just turn into a messiah for the actor?

There is a lot of ambiguity over what the dead constable Ravindra Patil said or didn’t say about the 2002 hit and run case that involves Salman Khan. Today, the actor got a big relief when the Bombay High Court suspended the sentence awarded by the Sessions Court. But in all this chaos, something has emerged as the most curious case ever. Late Ravindra Patil, whose FIR and statement made the Session Court award Salman the five-year sentence, hasn’t stopped complicating the case even after his death. On Wednesday, it helped Sessions Court get to a decision, today, it helped Salman get his sentence suspended!

Ravindra had stated that Salman was driving the car that day and was also under the influence of alcohol. He also stated that after the accident, it was him who called up the Police control room. Patil later went back on his words and Police suspended him. At the time of hearing, he reportedly fled and was later found in a hospital. He died of Tuberculosis in 2007. He was also spotted begging on the streets. According to a leading news channel, while Salman’s lawyers argued that no credence should be given to Patil’s statement since he is dead and couldn’t be re-examined, the Session’s Court refused to sideline Patil’s statement and stated that the decision would be taken on the basis of that.

Today, while arguing Salman’s case, his lawyers said that in an interview a long time ago, Patil had admitted that it wasn’t Salman who was behind the wheel but a certain Altaf. Patil is dead and cannot be called for any kind of cross-examination which has only tilted the case in Salman’s favour. The case is getting more and more complex with new twists and turns at every hearing. Wonder why was Altaf’s name not taken up before!

A Mumbai sessions court on Saturday permitted the prosecution in the Salman Khan hit-and-run case to rely on the statements of his deceased bodyguard Ravindra Patil, who was a witness to the 2002 accident, and a medico who performed the autopsy on the accident victim

Patil, a police bodyguard, died in October 2007 due to natural causes when the trial was underway before the magistrate court, while Sanap, the doctor who performed the autopsy, lives in the US.

The late Patil had earlier recorded his statement before a magistrate, which the prosecution demanded should be taken on record in the ongoing fresh trial in the sessions court after the additional charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder was slapped against Salman Khan.

In his statement, Patil said he was sitting next to Salman Khan and had warned him against rash-driving but the actor did not heed the advice. Later, he lodged the police complaint after the accident in which a pavement dweller was killed and four others were injured in Bandra in the early morning of September 28, 2002.

Judge DW Deshpande allowed the prosecution and defense to file their replies on Patil’s statement and said Salman Khan would be granted an opportunity to have his say in the matter and cross-examine the investigation officer. Salman Khan’s lawyer Shrikant Shivade had opposed prosecutor Pradeep Gharat‘s application, contending it would be prejudicial to his client. Judge Deshpande also allowed the prosecution to rely on the statement of Sanap, who had conducted the autopsy on the accident victim.

However, Shivade said he accepted the autopsy report and would not claim it would cause prejudice to Salman Khan. The next hearing will be held on March 12.

Salman appeared before the court this morning but the prosecution has sought time to produce witnesses

The re-trial in the hit-and-run case involving actor Salman Khan was on Tuesday deferred till April 28 by a Sessions court as the prosecution sought time to produce witnesses in view of police deployment on election duty. Investigating officer Rajendra Kane informed the court that police were deployed on election duty and hence they were not yet prepared to go ahead with the trial which was to commence on Tuesday.

Sessions Judge D W Deshpande asked the prosecution to produce on April 28 the first witness who was injured in the mishap in which the actor was involved, followed by eye witnesses in May.

This is the second occasion when the fresh trial has not begun. On March 26, three witnesses failed to turn up as they were either not available or untraceable. Salman’s lawyer Srikant Shivade said the actor was ready to face the trial while prosecutor Jagannath Kenjalkar said they would produce witnesses from April 28.

Clad in a white shirt and blue denim jeans, Salman came to the court and sat on a bench along with his bodyguard and sister Alvira Agnihotri. He keenly watched the proceedings and left as soon as the court announced the next date of hearing.

The judge ordered a fresh trial in this case, 12 years after the actor ran over his car on people sleeping on the road. Although the prosecution has submitted a list of 64 witnesses, it would not examine all of them, according to the public prosecutor. The prosecution had earlier submitted documents such as death certificate (of the person who was killed in the mishap) and injury certificates (of those who were injured) in this case. The court had admitted these documents after Salman’s lawyer submitted his say on admissibility of the documents.

Salman is facing the charge of running over his Toyota Land Cruiser on a group of persons sleeping on a footpath outside a bakery in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002, killing one and injuring four others.

On December 5 last year, the court had ordered a fresh trial on the ground that the witnesses had not been examined in the context of aggravated charge of culpable homicide, which was invoked against the actor midway through the case. The charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder attracts a 10-year sentence. The actor had earlier been tried by a magistrate for a lesser offence of causing death by negligence, which entailed an imprisonment of two years.

The case, dragging on for over a decade, had taken a twist earlier this year when the magistrate, after examining 17 witnesses, held that the charge of culpable homicide was made out against Salman and referred the matter to a sessions court, as cases under this offence are tried by a higher court.

The Khans claim that the victim’s family had cut all ties with her

Salman Khan announced yesterday (July 2) that his family was not paying any compensation to the relatives of the 70-year-old woman who was killed by a Land Cruiser owned by his brother Arbaaz. “The accident happened by mistake. I spoke to my driver and he said when he was driving, he saw something like a black polythene bag on the road, but it was the lady who was completely in black. I would request everyone not to sleep on the road,” Salman told reporters at their Galaxy Apartment home in Bandra, Mumbai.

“We are not paying any compensation to the family members of the victim as we got to know that her family had disowned her,” he added.

The incident occurred around 11 pm Sunday (July 1) near St Andrew’s Church in Bandra when the vehicle was headed towards the home of the Khans at Bandstand. The woman has been identified as Chandra Bala, police said. She was rushed to the Bhabha Hospital by a police constable and some autorickshaw drivers in the vicinity but died from her injuries.

Salman’s brother Sohail Khan said that he was “shocked” when he came to know about the accident. “I was at home. I did not know what was happening. Only driver was there in the car. The car was coming home and they did not know who the family was,” he told reporters. Sohail also said that “the news has been hyped a lot”. He added, “Instead of focusing on who was in the car, people should focus on the fact that a women died. I got to know about this incident after an hour. This accident happened by mistake.”